As the final installment of our recognition of American artists, we have the pleasure of featuring an artist who has overcome multiple physical challenges, AJ Brockman. AJ Brockman is a digital artist who has SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy), a progressive neuromuscular disease, and has been wheelchair-bound since age 2. He began painting with acrylics as a child and developed his own impressionistic style. He fully realized art was his passion, but began to lose the strength of his hands and the ability to create. Accepting the hard facts, he started to use the aid of computer software that replicates traditional painting / typesetting / layout to create. With the use of two fingers on his left hand, he is able to manipulate a mouse and have no limitations due to his disability.

Using life experiences, his interests, and many other forms of inspiration, he creates using a technique that is a hybrid of Impressionism and Realism. He uses reference photography to get his proportions correct, but everything he does is a unique composition. It is an extremely time-consuming process and he does hours of research on my subject matter before he ever opens the canvas. As a South Florida native, a lot of his work reflects the ocean, landscapes, and a beachside lifestyle. However, he does not limit himself to a specific genre.